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Classifications

B24B—MACHINES, DEVICES, OR PROCESSES FOR GRINDING OR POLISHING; DRESSING OR CONDITIONING OF ABRADING SURFACES; FEEDING OF GRINDING, POLISHING, OR LAPPING AGENTS

B24B37/00—Lapping machines or devices; Accessories

B24B37/04—Lapping machines or devices; Accessories designed for working plane surfaces

B24B37/042—Lapping machines or devices; Accessories designed for working plane surfaces operating processes therefor

B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING

B24—GRINDING; POLISHING

B24B—MACHINES, DEVICES, OR PROCESSES FOR GRINDING OR POLISHING; DRESSING OR CONDITIONING OF ABRADING SURFACES; FEEDING OF GRINDING, POLISHING, OR LAPPING AGENTS

B24B49/00—Measuring or gauging equipment for controlling the feed movement of the grinding tool or work; Arrangements of indicating or measuring equipment, e.g. for indicating the start of the grinding operation

B24B49/02—Measuring or gauging equipment for controlling the feed movement of the grinding tool or work; Arrangements of indicating or measuring equipment, e.g. for indicating the start of the grinding operation according to the instantaneous size and required size of the workpiece acted upon, the measuring or gauging being continuous or intermittent

B24B49/03—Measuring or gauging equipment for controlling the feed movement of the grinding tool or work; Arrangements of indicating or measuring equipment, e.g. for indicating the start of the grinding operation according to the instantaneous size and required size of the workpiece acted upon, the measuring or gauging being continuous or intermittent according to the final size of the previously ground workpiece

B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING

B24—GRINDING; POLISHING

B24B—MACHINES, DEVICES, OR PROCESSES FOR GRINDING OR POLISHING; DRESSING OR CONDITIONING OF ABRADING SURFACES; FEEDING OF GRINDING, POLISHING, OR LAPPING AGENTS

B24B49/00—Measuring or gauging equipment for controlling the feed movement of the grinding tool or work; Arrangements of indicating or measuring equipment, e.g. for indicating the start of the grinding operation

B24B49/12—Measuring or gauging equipment for controlling the feed movement of the grinding tool or work; Arrangements of indicating or measuring equipment, e.g. for indicating the start of the grinding operation involving optical means

H—ELECTRICITY

H01—BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS

H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof

H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof

H01L21/04—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction, depletion layer, carrier concentration layer

H01L21/18—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier, e.g. PN junction, depletion layer, carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic System or AIIIBV compounds with or without impurities, e.g. doping materials

H01L21/30—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26

H01L21/31—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26 to form insulating layers thereon, e.g. for masking or by using photolithographic techniques; After treatment of these layers

H01L21/3105—After-treatment

H01L21/31051—Planarisation of the insulating layers

H01L21/31053—Planarisation of the insulating layers involving a dielectric removal step

Abstract

A method for preventing the drying of a residue on a wafer surface in a multiple stage polishing operation increases wafer processing throughput and extends the useful life of polishing pads used in a CMP operation. The method includes detecting a polishing endpoint for a wafer polished in a second polishing step following a first polishing operation for the wafer. Endpoint detection terminates polishing of another wafer in the first polishing operation and triggers overpolishing of the prior wafer in the second polishing operation. After a set period, overpolishing of the prior wafer in the second polishing operation ends. Finally each of the wafers moves to a subsequent processing operation, which may include a polishing operation or a buffing operation. One of the advantages of the invention is the maximization of total platen pad usage between platen pad changes since total processing time has been increased for the same polishing pads, thus permitting polishing of greater numbers of wafers between platen pad changes.